Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

The Breakers’ decision not to wear the rainbow pride flag in next year’s NBL Pride Round has prompted mixed reactions. The Auckland-based basketball club is facing public backlash after becoming the second club to opt out of the pride jersey since the round began in January 2023. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explains further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's little hope New Zealand can reach its 2025 smoke-free targets.  The annual New Zealand Health survey has confirmed rates are stagnating just below 7 percent, with 12 percent of adult Kiwis vaping daily. Auckland University School of Public Health's Kathryn Bradbury says this smoking plateau - follows 10 to 15 years of really good progress. "The goal is to get under five percent - I mean, we're pretty close. But it looks unlikely." The study also shows a third of adults are obese - and just 7 percent eat the recommended daily veggie intake.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's concern about how many people drop out of apprenticeships, according to new reports. Vocational Education Minister Penny Simmonds has told a conference more than half of trainees aren't completing training. She says it's driven by a number of reasons, but she's pointing the finger at the previous Government incentivising training. Simmonds says it means many signed up despite not being that interested - and didn't complete their apprenticeship. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over in the UK, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood plans to impose visa bans on three African countries if they fail to take back their illegal migrants. Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo face visa sanctions set to block tourists, VIPs and business officials from travelling to Britain if they don't co-operate. UK correspondent Gavin Grey says the Government is hoping to reassure voters it can be tough on migration amid concerns from the opposition.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Warehouse is being his hard by the tough economic conditions. New reports show profits are down and the retail giant is looking to slash jobs. Harbour Asset Management's Shane Solly explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand's largest mānuka honey producer's voted down a richlister takeover bid, leaving its fate in limbo.  Comvita received an offer of 80-cents-per-share in August from Florenz - a subsidiary of Christchurch billionaire Mark Stewart’s Masthead Limited.  Comvita CEO Karl Gradon explained how the company could bounce back. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Thomas Scrimgeour from the Maxim Institute and Child Fund CEO Josie Pagani joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!  Schools across the country are mobilising and publicly committing to upholding the Treaty, despite the Government's plan to remove the obligations from boards. Luxon has said the schools shouldn't focus on politics - does he have a point?  New polls show the Government's falling out of favour with voters and Kiwis are split on the capital gains tax. What can the Government do to improve?  Uber drivers have won the battle against Uber in the Supreme Court. The court has ruled that Uber drivers are employees. Is this the right move? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Monday, 17 November 2025, Transport Minister Chris Bishop explains why the Government is moving to make importing dirty cars cheaper. The Supreme Court has ruled that Uber drivers are employees, Anita Rosentreter from the Workers First Union speaks about the implications for drivers. Finance Minister Nicola Willis gives a very strong hint about next year's election date, and reveals when she found out that Andrew Coster was part of an IPCA investigation into disgraced Jevon McSkimming. MBIE's Ian Caplin explains what parents need to know about the magic sand asbestos warning. Plus, the Huddle debates polls that show Kiwis support for Labour's CGT and why the Government is rating so poorly in the latest Ipsos survey. Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

These polls that keep showing Labour ahead of National are a sign of how crap the economy is. Up until a few weeks ago, I was ignoring polls because Labour didn't have any policy. Labour was ahead, but it didn't have any policy. I thought, well this is a protest vote. They're pissed at National for not fixing the mess Labour left behind. But the voters are not stupid. And they're voting for the no-policy party as a protest, not because they'd actually vote for them. But now, Labour has some policies - albeit three. Including the contentious capital gains tax. And they will love how this has played for them so far, because it hasn't actually been a terrible mess. So now that Labour has more policies, confirming they are indeed the party of more tax and more spend, the numbers should be turning, but they're not. The latest IPSOS poll shows voters trust Labour more on the economy, the cost of living - and basically everything but foreign affairs and law and order. And foreign affairs is Winston Peters! The economy should turn around - green shoots next year, etc, etc. But people aren't feeling that yet. So National's strategy of wait and hope till November next year is looking riskier by the day. As for the leadership question - well, Jacinda didn't teach us much about that. But  what we did learn from her is that you can switch leaders really close to an election day and not crash your vote. In fact, you can actually increase it. So an 11th hour switch to Stanford or Bish or whoever will remain a live option right up till D-day. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New polling data has revealed less Kiwis have faith the current Government can turn the economy around ahead of the upcoming election. A New Zealand Herald-Kantar poll has found voters are evenly split on Labour's proposed capital gains tax and about 45 percent of respondents in an IPSOS survey scored the Luxon-led Government below 3 out of 10. Finance Minister Nicola Willis says it's clear a significant number of people are still opposed to the capital gains tax and  the Government has plenty of time to expose the negative impacts. "There's also a big, undecided group in the middle and those are the people that we will be speaking to between now and the election." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.